William "Bill" Feess
September 15, 1927 - May 17, 2018
William (Bill) Feess passed away at home on May 19 from Kidney disease. He was 90 years old.
Bill worked for 54 years at Aerospace, becoming one of their longest employed persons. He finally retired in 2017 at the age of 89. During his time there, he was an integral part of GPS (Global Position System). He helped establish the theoretical foundation for the system and oversaw its practical implementation. He witnessed the transformation of what was first envisioned as a purely military application into a vital tool in modern life, used throughout the general public in phones and cars. He helped design the upgraded second system (GPS-2) as well. He received numerous awards over the years, in 2002 he received the Trustee Distinguished Achievement Award.
He joined the Merchant Marines in 1945 just after the end of World War II. He was able to qualify for the GI Bill which allowed him to go to Marquette University where he received a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering. From there he worked for a number of military contractors, including Lockheed, working in Baltimore, Denver and Los Angeles.
He met his future wife and fellow cheese-head, Mary Cunnien, in Baltimore. After a two-year courtship, they married in Madison, WI in 1958 and moved to Denver. Bill and Mary were married for 53 years until Mary passed away in 2012. Bill is survived by his four children, Terri Rogers, John Feess, Reilly Andrews and Tom Feess, his four grand-children Zane Feess, Jake Feess, Sam Rogers and Trask Feess, and four step grand-children, April Pascasio, Rosario Pascasio, Kyle Moore, and Ian Moore.
A funeral mass was held Friday, May 25 at St John Fisher Catholic Church in Rancho Palos Verdes. Please share your memories at https://wonderfullife.com/of/william-feess/obituary/
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Published in Daily Breeze on July 1, 2018
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